Herbologia, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2015

Copyright © 2015 by the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

DOI: 10.5644/Herb.15.2.02

CADASTRE OF RAGWEED’S SITES IN THE SARAJEVO CANTON

Mirzeta Memišević Hodžić, Adnana Mejrić, Ahmet Sejdić, Samir Omerović

JP “Bosanskohercegovačke šume”, Maršala Tita 7, 71000 Sarajevo mirzeta.memisevic.hodzic@bhsume.com.ba, adnana.vukovic@hotmail.com, ahmet.

sejdic@bhsume.com.ba, samir.omerovic@bhsume.com.ba

Abstract

During 2015 experts of PE “Bosanskohercegovačke šume” created the digital cadastre of ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) sites in the Canton Sarajevo for the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and Environmental Protection of the Canton Sarajevo. The term “digital ca-dastre” means geospatial databases with associated cartography (thematic maps of areas affected by this plant species).

Maps show the location of ragweed and accompanying table con-tains coordinates of areas, municipalities, cadastral municipality, number of parcel, ownership, type of bedrock, soil type, soil damage, presence of asphalt, altitude, exposition, inclination, micro-relief shape, presence of erosion, vegetation form, land, presence of grass, presence of weeds, human activities on site, needs for repairing, needs for cleaning, planting (ground flora, trees and/or bushes), and list of other plant species (ruderal or other) on each individual location.

A total of 105 locations with presence of ragweed were found, the most in the municipalities of Hadžići and Ilijaš, along the railway line and main roads.

Because of its presence in the vicinity of settlements and roads, most convenient and most recommended measure to combat ragweed in the Canton Sarajevo is mowing. Mowing must be performed before insemi-nation. Recommended period for mowing is May, June, and possibly the beginning of July. Already in mid-July, ragweed is at some localities in full bloom. Mowing in this case is not recommended, because it would increase the spread of pollen. Pulling out can be performed in April and May, while plants are still small (up to 20 cm high).

Keywords: ragweed, digital cadastre, Canton Sarajevo

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Introduction

Ragweed belongs to the family Asteraceae (Compositae). It origi-nates from the USA. Vojniković (2009) classifies ragweed as species for the blacklist of flora of Bosnia and Herzegovina (the list of invasive spe-cies that can cause damage in the area of biodiversity, health and economy; expansion of these species should be prevented), and it is also on the list of invasive species of flora of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism of the Federation B&H.

It grows on bare-land sites, such as railways, roads, banks of streams and rivers, neglected gardens and badly cultivated fields. It can be found in many vegetable crops, potatoes, corn, sunflower, sugar beet, soybeans, and many other crops.

Today, ragweed is known as one of the most dangerous allergenic plants whose pollen causes sneezing, watery secretion, congestion and itching of nose, itching and watery eyes, and often itching in the throat and ears. Thirty years ago ragweed was not identify as dangerous allergen in our region. Tucakov (1984) states that in some parts of the world (the USA), up to 90% of pollen allergic rhinitis was caused by plants of Com-positae family, particularly Ambrosia genus (A. trifida L., A. artemisiifolia L. etc), less by genus Artemisia (A. tridentata Nutt.), while in our country the most common cause of pollen sneezing were grasses during flowering (Gramineae). Šarić (1991) states that ragweed pollen causes allergies in people and livestock.

Allergic reactions to ragweed may appear already at the concentra-tion of 20-30 pollen grains per m3 of air (www.vasezdravlje.com). Accord-ing to the Report on Seasonal and Spatial Variations of Pollen Allergens in Sarajevo Area in 2014, the concentration of ragweed pollen goes beyond limits in August, September and October (Table 1).

Table 1: Ragweed’s pollen concentration on measuring stations in Sarajevo

Measuring stationPollen grains/m3 of air/month

7 8 9 10Pofalići 16 193 66 30

Stari Grad 6 80 57 19

The report also states that established values were significantly low-er than values recorded in previous years, especially in 2011, when weekly value reached 320 grains/m3.

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Šoljan and Muratović (2002, 2014) researched distribution of rag-weed in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and determined its presence in the north-ern, western, north-eastern and central Bosnia, as well as its expansion in Herzegovina in the Neretva River valley.

In the research carried out by Šoljan and Muratović (2000) in the city of Sarajevo, six locations with the presence of ragweed were found in ruderal habitats and undeveloped park areas.

During the research of flora of Hutovo Blato, Maslo (2014a) deter-mined presence of ragweed along riverbanks of the Krupa River, channels, and wet gravel pits.

During the research of urban flora of Mostar, Maslo (2014b) found ragweed in four of five investigated areas (Old Town with surrounding city quarter (mahalle); New part of the city; Railway station with surrounding; Areas near the Neretva River). Ragweed was not present only in suburban areas.

According to Šarić et al. (2011), Ambrosia artemisiifolia L. spread from the Posavina Region (in the north) to the south, in the last few dec-ades. This species spread quickly because of enormous abundance of its seeds. Another reason for rapid expansion of ragweed was the war in Bos-nia and Herzegovina (1992-95). During the war, weeds were not controlled and they disseminated and expanded freely (Šarić et al., 1999 in Šarić et al. 2011).

Methods

Creating digital cadastre of ragweed included preparatory work, field research, data entry and processing and mapping of recorded points and surfaces.

As a part of preparatory work, surfaces on which the appearance of ragweed was expected were selected. The points for recording have been defined. Based on the available data, these surfaces represent poten-tial habitat for ragweed (damaged, abandoned land, proximity to garbage dumps, bands along the roads, etc.). The surfaces were determined by con-sultation of all sources of geo-information data, especially ortho images. 295 points/surfaces were defined, which were then digitized and working maps for field recording were made. Information about ragweed sites were collected from relevant municipal departments and the Cantonal Public Enterprise “Rad” and these sites were associated with the previously de-fined points.

Digital cadastre of ragweed’s sites in the Sarajevo Canton

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Four graphs were made for recording data in accordance with the project requirements. Graph 1 includes general location information (name of locality, municipality, cadastral district, coordinates, parcel number, ownership, type of substrate, type of soil, soil damage, rockiness, altitude, exposure, inclination, micro-relief shape, type and intensity of erosion, vegetation shape, presence of grass, presence of weeds, visible activity on the surface, needs for repairing, cleaning, planting and renewal). Forms 2, 3 and 4 are modified forms for recordings conducted by the method of Braun-Blanquet for species of ground flora, trees and shrubs. Form for ground flora contains Latin and folk name of a plant, cover label, unity and origin (natural or artificial). Form for tree species contains Latin and folk name, number of plants on recorded surface, age of plants, damage and health status, and finally the form for species of shrubs contains Latin and common name, cover, unity, origin and damage.

Field recording on determined surfaces, extended to new areas iden-tified during field work, was carried out from April to September 2015.

All data recorded in the field have been entered in excel. Areas where ragweed was found have been plotted in GIS project, and they have been associated with all data recorded in the field, as well as with the recom-mended way to combat ragweed for each location. GIS project was devel-oped in MapInfo program. Raster cadastral maps of different proportions (1: 1000, 1: 2500 and 1: 5000) were used. Data on ownership were taken from the website of the Federal Administration for Geodetic and Property Affairs (http://www.katastar.ba/).

Results and discussion

During field recording, ragweed was found at 105 points in the Can-ton Sarajevo. The coordinates of points with presence of ragweed, organ-ized by the municipalities, are shown in Table 2, and their spatial distribu-tion is shown in Figure 1.

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Figure 1: Spatial distribution of points with the presence of ragweed

Table 2: Coordinates of points containing ragweed by municipalities

Municipality No Eastlong.

Northlat.

CENTAR - - -

HADŽIĆI

1. 43.789789 18.148583

2. 43.825137 18.208129

3. 43.838922 18.217156

4. 43.839998 18.217726

5. 43.802835 18.203589

6. 43.813047 18.191063

7. 43.823755 18.204868

8. 43.845446 18.228469

9. 43.748924 18.043149

10. 43.782831 18.072701

11. 43.800735 18.104091

12. 43.801922 18.107279

13. 43.846757 18.240601

14. 43.846753 18.237327

15. 43.772911 18.058372

16. 43.790071 18.118570

17. 43.789763 18.136549

Municipality No Eastlong.

Northlat.

HADŽIĆI

18. 43.846832 18.238615

19. 43.798475 18.103948

20. 43.826980 18.213630

21. 43.821883 18.205518

22. 43.824646 18.210078

23. 43.803478 18.110189

24. 43.800686 18.103111

25. 43.790524 18.136190

26. 43.789012 18.145627

27. 43.785158 18.173232

28. 43.793621 18.107969

ILIDŽA

1. 43.866290 18.275146

2. 43.867148 18.277330

3. 43.863216 18.271618

4. 43.868449 18.280260

5. 43.842239 18.314243

6. 43.846315 18.318819

7. 43.834401 18.295956

Digital cadastre of ragweed’s sites in the Sarajevo Canton

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Municipality No Eastlong.

Northlat.

ILIDŽA

8. 43.832831 18.281045

9. 43.758560 18.342668

10. 43.867991 18.207857

11. 43.838339 18.307037

12. 43.837308 18.305172

13. 43.839563 18.310027

14. 43.844186 18.316655

15. 43.837572 18.259674

16. 43.835551 18.265559

17. 43.843040 18.252405

18. 43.833644 18.270994

19. 43.835358 18.265702

20. 43.839505 18.256980

21. 43.838719 18.258498

ILIJAŠ

1. 44.082557 18.532840

2. 43.972575 18.251009

3. 43.944205 18.258844

4. 43.942524 18.262382

5. 43.941039 18.258448

6. 43.939925 18.280809

7. 43.971510 18.251948

8. 43.963904 18.263254

9. 43.994352 18.220771

10. 43.976288 18.241539

11. 43.939872 18.289724

12. 44.048426 18.466756

13. 43.959421 18.264288

14. 43.964980 18.273659

15. 43.946181 18.265427

16. 43.951128 18.263361

17. 43.986769 18.232463

18. 43.982915 18.394293

19. 43.976123 18.381243

20. 43.984783 18.413280

21. 43.992441 18.425013

22. 44.020311 18.437767

Municipality No Eastlong.

Northlat.

NOVI GRAD 1. 43.869238 18.311999

2. 43.875430 18.288091

3. 43.878412 18.314685

4. 43.886572 18.325227

5. 43.851046 18.326897

6. 43.830313 18.332609

7. 43.851081 18.345660

8. 43.851031 18.338163

9. 43.851238 18.350336

10. 43.851715 18.355394

11. 43.852163 18.360550

12. 43.851746 18.319733

13. 43.863232 18.313514

NOVOSARAJEVO

1. 43.857913 18.386936

2. 43.857818 18.383421

3. 43.856612 18.379565

4. 43.853813 18.366386

5. 43.858190 18.384359

STARIGRAD

1. 43.855206 18.457875

2. 43.851559 18.464042TRNOVO 1. 43.678313 18.445813

VOGOŠĆA

1. 43.900602 18.3264662. 43.908763 18.3243143. 43.919630 18.3166094. 43.929887 18.3305995. 43.911674 18.3230916. 43.920015 18.3097217. 43.918578 18.3059938. 43.904308 18.3404249. 43.915066 18.31935510. 43.920620 18.31524611. 43.929397 18.32960712. 43.949342 18.34481513. 43.963414 18.361657

For access to each specific data point, longitude and latitude given in Table 2 can be easily copied into Google Maps and they can be found without the database created in this study.

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For an overview of the database of recorded data, regarding to habi-tat of ragweed in Canton Sarajevo, and supporting information (digital cadastre of ragweed’s sites), any GIS viewer may be used (digital cadastre is owned by the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and Environ-mental Protection of Canton Sarajevo). The most common file extensions for using the information data are .shp, .tab and .kml. For transformation of file extension, different transformers that are integral tools of geoin-formation program could be used. For overview, free viewers can also be used, such as Google Earth Viewer for KML file extension. The instal-lation of Google Earth Viewer is free (https://www.google.com/earth/). Benefit of this viewer is that, in addition to information from database, it contains other information such as names of settlements, infrastructure (roads), administrative division etc. Click on a point/area with ragweed and the accompanying database containing information specified in sec-tion Methods opens. This allows easy access to position of the surface and its main features, and easy selection of ways of intervention for the removal of ragweed.

Data can also be viewed in MapInfo Viewer for .tab file extension, where it is also possible to perform variety of data analysis, as well as upgrading data. Thus, one can analyse presence of ragweed depending on various factors, such as types of substrates, purpose of use, damage and soil types, vegetation types, exposure, degree of erosion, microrelief shape, etc.

The largest number of points of ragweed appearing in this research was on damaged land. As regards the type of substrate, significant part of appearance of ragweed occurs on alluvium and tertiary flysch series, with very different soil types.

Ragweed mostly appears on southern exposure.In contrast to results of research conducted by Maslo (2014b) in the

city of Mostar, ragweed in Canton Sarajevo was not found in populated areas (except in certain cases) or along banks of rivers but it is found along roads (with badly maintained embankments) and railway line.

In this study, previous sites of ragweed specified by Šoljan and Muratović (2000) were not confirmed. This may be because of better maintenance of public green spaces in 2015, compared to the period 1991 to 1999, when the above mentioned authors conducted their research. This could also be another confirmation of the well-known properties of rag-weed that disappears from the already known sites (the above mentioned

Digital cadastre of ragweed’s sites in the Sarajevo Canton

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authors cited example of Branko Bujić Street where they found a great number of individuals in 1996, and in 1999 not a single one.)

In the area of Canton Sarajevo there are only two measuring sta-tions that collect data for reports on presence of pollen – locality Pofalići (municipality Novo Sarajevo) and Stari Grad (municipality Old Town). Data from these stations for 2015 and previous years shows that pollen of ragweed is intensively present in July, August, September and Octo-ber. Our experience also confirms this data for other municipalities with more intensely blossoming of ragweed in July - municipalities of Ilijaš and Hadžići.

Therefore, it could be concluded that the risk of allergic reactions to ragweed pollen in Canton Sarajevo threatens in July, August, September and October.

Conclusions

In the area of Canton Sarajevo 105 points/locations with presence of ragweed were found.

Ragweed was found on embankments along all main roads passing through the Canton Sarajevo. The reason for presence of ragweed in these areas is usually reduced maintenance of embankments along roads. All vital power and strength of ragweed can be seen on and along main roads. One can see how ragweed grows from sand of embankments, from gaps in asphalt, etc.

Ragweed was not found on highway embankments, probably due to constant work and maintenance on sections of highway, which passes near or through settlements.

This species is also present in and along railway line through the entire area of the Canton. It sprouts from half-rotten thresholds and from sand and rock detritus between them.

In a lesser degree, ragweed was found in agricultural crops, mostly corn and wheat.

This species is most frequent in municipalities of Ilijaš, Hadžići and Vogošća, because roads of mentioned categories pass through them, and there are bigger non-maintained surfaces complexes.

Other municipalities: Stari Grad, Novi Grad, Centar, Novo Sarajevo have denser population, higher number of private parcels maintained by owners, better maintenance of public green surfaces, and smaller number of agricultural areas which may be contaminated with seeds of ragweed.

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Figure 2: Ragweed on railway line Photo Mirzeta Memišević Hodžić

From several previous reports on movement of pollen on measuring stations in Pofalici and Stari Grad, and observed dynamics of ragweed flowering during this research, it can be concluded that the risk of allergic reactions to ragweed pollen in the Canton Sarajevo threatens in July, Au-gust, September and October.

Measures to combat ragweed can be preventive, mechanical (mow-ing and pulling out) and chemical. Because of its presence in the vicinity of settlements and roads, most convenient and most recommended measure to combat ragweed in Canton Sarajevo is mowing. Recommended period for mowing is May/June and early July, necessary before insemination. Already in mid-July, ragweed on some sites is in full bloom and mowing is not recommended (it would promote spreading of pollen). Pulling out can be performed in April and May, while the plants are still small (up to 20 cm high).

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